California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Regional Profile of the North Central Coast Study Region May 7, 2007Draft 1.0 Introduction The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) was signed into law in 1999. The MLPA directs the state to redesign California’s system of marine protected areas to increase its coherence and effectiveness in protecting the state’s marine life and habitats, marine ecosystems, and marine natural heritage, as well as to improve recreational, educational and study opportunities provided by marine ecosystems. To the extent possible, the system is to be designed and managed as a network. In August 2004, the California Resources Agency, California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), and the Resource Legacy Fund Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding launching the MLPA Initiative and implementation of the MLPA in the central coast. Among other actions, the MLPA Initiative established the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force, the Master Plan Science Advisory Team (SAT), a statewide stakeholder interests group, and MLPA Initiative staff. A second memorandum of understanding, effective January 1, 2007, continues the public-private partnership for planning and implementation of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the north central coast. By December 2006 five key objectives were achieved by the MLPA Initiative: (1) a draft Master Plan Framework for MPAs was developed, (2) alternative proposals for MPAs in the central coast study region were developed and submitted to CDFG, (3) a strategy was recommended for long-term funding for MPA implementation and management, (4) a report was prepared with recommendations to increase coordination and collaboration among state and federal agencies with the authority to manage marine resources, and (5) a recommended executive order was submitted to secure agreement among state agencies to complete implementation of a statewide Master Plan for MPAs by 2011. The stakeholder process for regional MPA planning in the central coast study region was completed in 2005-2006 and in 2006 a draft Master Plan for MPAs was completed (CDFG 2005a). The California Fish and Game Commission approved a set of central coast MPAs, with associated regulations, on April 13, 2007. A regional stakeholder group is being convened in 2007 to begin evaluating and redesigning existing MPAs for the area extending from Alder Creek near Point Arena in Mendocino County to Pigeon Point in San Mateo County. This draft Regional Profile for the North Central Coast Study Region provides background information on the biological, oceanographic, socioeconomic, and governance setting for the MLPA North Central Coast Study Region. This regional profile is intended to provide basic regional information to support stakeholders and policy-makers in their understanding of the marine resources and heritage of the region, in evaluating existing MPAs within the study region, and in developing alternative MPA proposals. The information is provided in the form of text summaries, tables, selected maps (with links to other computer-accessible maps), and technical appendices. It is anticipated that the regional stakeholders and SAT will provide additional information to augment this profile through a joint fact-finding process. The regional profile helps provide the context to develop alternatives that will meet the goals and objectives of the MLPA. The goals of the MLPA are: 1 California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Regional Profile of the North Central Coast Study Region May 7, 2007Draft x Goal 1: To protect the natural diversity and abundance of marine life, and the structure, function, and integrity of marine ecosystems. x Goal 2: To help sustain, conserve, and protect marine life populations, including those of economic value, and rebuild those that are depleted. x Goal 3: To improve recreational, educational, and study opportunities provided by marine ecosystems that are subject to minimal human disturbance, and to manage these uses in a manner consistent with protecting biodiversity. x Goal 4: To protect marine natural heritage, including protection of representative and unique marine life habitats in California waters for their intrinsic value. x Goal 5: To ensure that California's MPAs have clearly defined objectives, effective management measures, and adequate enforcement, and are based on sound scientific guidelines. x Goal 6: To ensure that the state’s MPAs are designed and managed, to the extent possible, as a statewide network. The best readily available data are being compiled for use in the MLPA North Central Coast Study Region planning process. This regional profile provides an overview of some of that data. All data in a spatial geographic information system (GIS) format are being housed in the California Marine Geodatabase at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Appendix I provides a list of the currently available spatial data layers; this list is dynamic and will be updated as new data become available. 2 California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Regional Profile of the North Central Coast Study Region May 7, 2007Draft 2.0 General Description of the Study Region The MLPA North Central Coast Study Region covers state waters extending from a line due west of Pigeon Point to a line extending due west from Alder Creek, five miles north of Point Arena, and includes state waters around the Farallon Islands, but does not include San Francisco Bay (see Map 1). The shoreward boundary was drawn at the beach for creeks and rivers, at the extent of tidal reach in lagoons and estuaries, and at the Golden Gate Bridge (to exclude San Francisco Bay). Lagoons (such as Abbots Lagoon) that are mostly or entirely closed to tidal inundation and dominated by brackish-freshwater species are not included in the study region. To facilitate the display of information and evaluation of alternative MPA designs, the region has been divided up into 6 sub-regions as follows: 1. Alder Creek/Point Arena to Horseshoe Point 2. Horseshoe Point to Bodega Head 3. Bodega Head to Double Point 4. Double Point to Point San Pedro 5. Point San Pedro to Pigeon Point 6. Farallon Islands The coastline covers a straight-line distance of 146 miles (mi), but it is actually much longer due to the undulations of the coastline (over 363 mi). In general, state waters extend from the mean high tide line to 3 nautical miles (nmi) seaward. However, state waters also include an area of 94.3 square miles around the Farallon Islands, which are located 28 miles offshore of the San Francisco Bay. The study region encompasses approximately 763.5 square miles and extends from the shoreline (mean high tide) to a maximum depth of approximately 382 feet (63.7 fathoms) off the Farallon Islands. The study region includes a broad array of habitats from intertidal to hard and soft bottom habitats on the continental shelf. The edge of the continental shelf, where it transitions downward to become the continental slope, is called the shelf-slope break, which occurs at approximately 200 meters; the continental slope is generally outside of the study region as the maximum depth in the region is 116 meters (380 feet, 63.4 fathoms). The continental shelf varies in width along the study region from 3.6 mi at its narrowest location to 27.2 mi at its widest location (where it extends beyond state waters) along the 100 meter contour. There are no submarine canyons in state waters in the region; however, there are some large canyons in federal waters. While much of the marine seafloor in the region is soft (sand or mud) bottom there are also rocky reefs, pinnacles, and rocky outcrops. Preliminary mapping of hard and soft bottom habitats in the entire study region is underway. The MLPA North Central Coast Study Region is a portion of the California Current large marine ecosystem. The California Current is considered globally important for biodiversity because of its high productivity and the large numbers of species it supports (World Wildlife Fund 2000). The California Current has its origins in the Gulf of Alaska and flows southward along the West 3 California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Regional Profile of the North Central Coast Study Region May 7, 2007Draft Coast toward the equator. It is one of only four temperate upwelling zones in the world where seasonal winds blow surface water away from the coast, causing cold nutrient-rich water from deep in the ocean to upwell, or rise, to the surface. The California Current is one of the most productive of the eastern boundary currents and is characterized by seasonal upwelling of cold nutrient rich water, periodic El Niño - Southern Oscillation climatic events, and decadal climatic shifts (United States Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics 1994). Major upwelling centers occur at Point Arena and Point Reyes, with extensive coastal upwelling also occuring along the entire Sonoma coast. During the upwelling season, the waters are rich in nutrients that fuel highly productive and diverse ecosystems, with large numbers of top predators that are dependent on this seasonal abundance of prey resources. The nutrient rich upwelled waters fuel a productive pelagic foodweb that includes phytoplankton, krill, coastal pelagic species (anchovies, sardines, squid, etc), fish, seabirds, marine mammals, and sharks. High local productivity also attracts many migratory species. During non-upwelling seasons and El Niño years, the nutrients that flow out from San Francisco Bay become more important (NOAA 2004). Relative to other parts of the state, this study region is very important to many species of top predators that are key players in the coastal and open ocean food webs. There are specific areas in the region important as foraging and breeding grounds for populations of some top predators (Karl et al 2001; Yen et al 2004). The ecology of the study region has been relatively well characterized in several publicly available summary documents (Airame et al 2003; NOAA 2003; Karl et al.